Altarian Republic Army
The Altarian Republic Army is the major ground based force of the Altarian Republic Defense Forces possessing most of the military's capabilities for land operations of all branches of the Altarian military. Mission The Federal Defense Establishment Act was the bill that created the Altarian Republic Defense Forces. The Altarian Republic Army was the branch given top precedence over the others in terms of seniority and priority. According to the FDEA it's purpose was defined as: *Defending the territorial integrity of the Altarian Republic *Preserving the peace and security, and providing for the defense, of the Republic its possessions, and any areas occupied by the Republic *Supporting and implementing national policies *Overcoming any nations or other parties responsible for acts that imperil the peace and security of the Republic Organization 'Components' The Altarian Republic Army's manpower is drawn from three different components. The Regular Army is composed of regular troops serving on active duty. The Army Reserves are the reserve component of the Army to be mobilized in the event of a war. The Altarian Territorial Guard belong to the individual states of the Republic and act as the state's individual defense forces. The Territorial Guards are all independent of the federal government and report to the governors of their states. The Territorial Guard receives surplus equipment and training from the Army but does not receive funding from the federal government. 'Commands' The Altarian Army has two different types of commands; geographic and administrative. The geographic commands are composed of the Western, Eastern and Home Commands. These are combat commands responsible for military operations within their area of operations. On the other hand, the Combat Forces, Special Operations and Support Forces command are administrative commands that are responsible for the equipment, training and sustainment of their different branches. The Combat Forces Command entails all forces that are involved with combat operations whereas Support Forces Command has forces that are related to logistical or transportation support as well as many miscellaneous units. The Special Operations Command is a somewhat unique command in that it is a command that crosses over into other branches of the Altarian military. The SOC is a joint command that is tasked with coordinating the special forces units of the entire Altarian armed forces. 'Branches' The different branches of the Altarian Army fall under four categories that are; Combat Arms, Combat Support, Logistics and Service Support. 'Combat Arms' *Infantry *Armor *Artillery *Special Forces *Rangers 'Combat Support' *Aviation *Engineering *Air Defense *Signals *Military Police *Psych Ops *NBC 'Logistics' *Transportation *Quartermaster *Ordnance *Finance 'Service Support' *Medical *Intelligence *Civil Affairs *Chaplain 'Units' Personnel The Altarian Army consists of 260,000 personnel with 80,000 active duty soldiers, 20,000 reservists and 160,000 Territorial Guardsmen. 'Service' When they enlist all Altarian soldiers agree to a six year term of service. The first two to three years are generally focused on training and skill development while the last couple are combat ready deployments. There are no minimal educational requirements for enlisted personnel but the officer corps requires a minimum of high school education with a college degree preferred. 'Training' Typically training takes about the first two years of a soldiers career, up to three in certain branches. All soldiers undergo 6 months of basic training before moving on to more specialized training for another 6 months after which they are assigned to an active duty unit for training duties and finally moving on to combat ready deployment. 'Benefits' Military pay is a bit low taking the standard costs of living into account but the federal government provides food and housing services for soldiers and their families as well as free medical care. The individual states are partly responsible for paying the Territorial Guards and providing them training, equipment and benefits. Equipment 'Weapons' The Altarian Army uses a variety of individual and crew served weapons. The primary individual battle rifle is the M16A2/A3 Assault Rifle. Even so there are many units equipped with different weapons and the M-14 Rifle is still used in several front line units. It is stated as a goal by the Altarian Army to bring all units to the M-16 series of rifles before possibly searching for a new replacement rifle. The M-60E3 Machine Gun provides heavy automatic fire support for combat units with plans to begin phasing them out in favor of the M249 SAW. The primary sidearm of the army is the M1911 Colt .45 Pistol. The standard grenade is the M61 Fragmentation Grenade. Lower level anti-tank capabilities are provided by the M72 LAW and M2 Carl Gustav Recoilless Rifle which are slowly being phased out in favor of the AT-4. Miscellaneous individual weapons include the Mossberg 590 Shotgun, M24 Sniper System, PSG-1 and the Barrett M82. Crew served weapons vary from medium machine guns to artillery guns. The primary crew served machine guns are the M240 MMG and the M2 .50 caliber HMG. The M240 forms the basic firepower of a heavy weapons platoon while both weapons see service as vehicle mounted machine guns. The Mk 19 AGL is also present in some units with more being expected to be purchased in the future. Company and battalion level fire support is provided by a variety of mortars like the 60mm M224 and 81mm M252. Heavier artillery includes the M119 105mm Howitzer and the M198 155mm Howitzer. Crew served anti-tank weapons used by the army are the BGM-71 TOW and M47 Dragon. Anti-air support is provided by the FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS, MIM-23 Hawk and a limited amount of MIM-104 Patriot Missiles. 'Vehicles' The Altarian Army operates a large variety of vehicles for its operations ranging from small motorcycles to tanks and other armored vehicles. The most common vehicles operated by the Army are the M151 MUTT and the HMMWV. These two vehicles serve a whole multitude of roles from transportation to being and ambulance and supply transport. Currently the MUTT is being phased out in favor of the HMMWV. The most common armored vehicle is the M113 APC and it fulfills a variety of roles much like the MUTT and HMMWV. Prioritized units have begun fielding the M2 Bradley and BMP-4 to fulfill the need for an Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The M-60A3 Patton and M1 Abrams form the core of the Army's armored power. Mobile anti-air support is provided by the Avenger variant of the HMMWV, M161 VADS and the M31 Gepard mobile AA gun. While the air force does provide the majority of air support for all operations the army still operates a variety of fixed wing and rotary aircraft. The UH-1 Huey and UH-60 along with their variants are the mainstay of the Army's aviation capabilities. The AH-1 Cobra and a slowly increasing number of AH-64 Apaches are the main offensive air power possessed by the army. The OVA-10 Bronco provides spotting for artillery units and possesses light attack capabilities. 'Uniforms' The standard Army uniform is the BDU although some army units and most territorial guard units still use Olive Drab uniforms. Body armor has just begun being issued to prioritized special forces and ranger units and is planned to be also issued to conventional forces when enough can be purchased. Currently the MV1 Personal Armor is the primary body armor issued to Altarian forces. It is capable of stopping powerful handgun and some low powered rifle rounds. 'Miscellaneous' Bases History 'Origins' Category:Altarian Republic Category:Altarian Republic Defense Forces Category:Altarian Republic Army Category:Military